Checking out the brand new YO! Sushi restaurant in Worcester

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I walked into the brand new YO! restaurant in Worcester with two children who were so excited they were out of control. I made a pathetic attempt at conversing with the restaurant manager before being distracted by the girls jumping onto the benches. Before I knew it, the manager had legged it, leaving me with the two Tasmanian devils grabbing at the conveyor belt.

About YO!

YO! Is a Japanese street food and sushi restaurant that has been feeding hungry diners across the country for the past 20 years. And at last, it has opened a branch in Worcester. YO! is the ultimate in fast food. Perch on a stool by the conveyor belt. If my kids are in there, sit on the other side of the room.

If you’re in a rush, you can just grab a plate and start eating. Order hot food from the menu or just stick with the cold dishes on the conveyor belt. Drinks from Japanese beer to Sake, tea to juice can be ordered from the staff. Or alternatively, just ask them for a glass and help yourself from the water taps at your table.

The kitchen is in the middle of the room, so you can watch the food being prepared. If you order Miso soup, it’s refillable as many times as you like. Each plate is edged in a different colour, with the colours indicating the cost of the dish.

Experiencing YO! With young children

I don’t mind admitting that I’m a huge fan of YO! I pretty much take any opportunity to eat there. But one thing I haven’t done is to eat there with the girls. And I was worried. Libby had tried sushi at school and didn’t like the seaweed. Lia is a good eater, but if she doesn’t like something there is no persuading her to eat it.

Luckily, the menu is so varied that the girls both loved it. In fact, the idea of being able to just grab what they wanted from the conveyor belt was somewhat overwhelming. Libby started off with sushi rolls, followed up with a plate of edamame beans and another couple of plates of sushi.

Lia ordered a chicken yakisoba from the hot menu. This is a noodle dish that comes with chilli peppers, but the staff kindly explained that it had chilli peppers and offered to serve it without them. This was perfect for Lia, who managed some sushi rolls as well as her quite large plate of yakisoba.

My husband and I tried a variety of things from the conveyor belt and both ordered a couple of hot dishes too. I love the vegetable gyoza and ordered this along with a tofu katsu curry and a miso soup. I also tried the sushi and a delicious kaiso seaweed salad. We were both incredibly impressed, although we agreed that we could easily spend an absolute fortune in there because we didn’t want to stop eating despite being full.

YO! Pudding!

When I told Libby that she could have more than one pudding, it was pretty much the best day of her life. Both girls had several puddings. Okay I’ll be honest – we all did. Libby ate two ginza strawberry cheesecakes, a fruit salad, custard dorayaki and a strawberry cheesecake mochi. Lia was a little more restrained but she did get through a fruit salad, cheesecake mochi and two custard dorayakis.

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